“Prettymuch!” Yells a voice from the café, right before another voice yells something in Spanish. I think Mrs. Keller, the town librarian, just asked where my handsome husband is.
“I guess you all have been following our travels online,” I grumble.
“Si!” Steven gushes. “How is Mexico City? Is it sexy? It seems sexy.”
I chuckle, “I think you mean Benedict is sexy, wherever he is.”
“You said it, honey,” Steven snaps. “Yo Queiro!”
“Just a reminder that you are not, in fact, single,” Miles rolls his eyes.
“Shut it! I want to hear about the hiding in the closet.” Tyrone’s voice cuts through the noise.
I straighten up, proud, “I’ll have you know I’ve done zero hiding.”
“Really?” Harper almost gasps.
I shrug, “He’s the one meeting and sight-seeing all day, not me.” I see multiple faces frown so I go on, “I’m enjoying four star resort room service alone most of the time.”
“Bitch, I am so jealous right now,” Steven huffs.
Miles smirks, “Same, actually.”
I laugh at that as I nod, “I get it. It’s pretty awesome. Working on my laptop on this balcony,” I move my phone around to show them the amazing views. “Then in the evening I join Ben wherever he is for dinner or sometimes dessert.”
“Wait. You’releavingyour room in the evening?” Harper teases and everyone piles on.
I shrug, “I am by myself all day. It’s like, since I get to recharge with the sunshine and my numbers for eight hours, I don’t even mind going out at night.”
At this, Harper balks. “Okay,” she grabs her phone from wherever it was propped. “Besties only, you guys go decorate something.”
“Bye!” I say as she switches the view on her phone to herself. She’s walking through the kitchen to her back office.
“So,” she says, plopping herself into her tiny desk chair. “Is that the truth? He’s not sucking the life out of you?”
I offer her a sad smile, “So far, it’s been great, truly. Steven’s joke about the closet…I get it,” I inhale, remembering how it used to be. With Theo, mostly. “But Ben doesn’t seem to care that I want to be in the room doing nothing. He hasn’t teased meabout it or pressured me. In fact, I had to invite myself to dinner after I’d been alone two days straight.”
“What about at night,” Harper whispers the question while wagging her eyebrows.
“Well, it’s the week. No funny business on weekdays.”
She shakes her head, “You and your rules.”
“I know. Benedict hasn’t said anything but there’s been a lot of…” I change my voice to sound like him, “oh, sorry, just used to walking around naked, darling, you understand.”
Her eyebrows try to hide up in her hairline as she screeches, “That man is walking around naked in front of you and you’re still holding out?”
“I almost caved. Twice.” She relaxes a bit as I go on, “I’m only human. He knows he’s getting to me too. But I started returning the favor and after a bunch of heavy sighing and fist clenching,what do you know,he remembered how to keep his clothes on.”
She laughs, “Sounds like you both have met your match.”
I smile but it dims when I think about our situation, “For now.”
“Look me in the eye and tell me you haven’t caught any feelings for him.”
“I can’t look you in the eye over FaceTime.”
“You can’t look me in the eye because you’re a terrible liar and we both know the truth. You’re falling for him, Janie.”
